"I'm not so sure other animals don't make organized attempts to help others as they certainly seem to be a lot more intelligent and sophisticated than we have assumed."

We have a deck with glass panels. There's a bird feeder outside my window, over the deck.

Every other week or so, a bird -- generally a fledgeling, who hasn't learned yet -- flies into the glass and knocks themselves silly.

When that happens, I go out, pick up the poor thing, and set it on the railing, so that when it comes to, it won't immediately fly into the glass again.

The funny thing is when a semi-conscious bird is sitting there, other birds will come up and sit with it -- they never sit on the deck railing otherwise. It isn't just relatives; it's often birds of different species.

It's probably anthropomorphic to think so, but I like to think they're keeping the dazed bird company until it can fly again.

:::: Jan Steinman, Communication Steward, EcoReality http://www.EcoReality.org ::::